Ota Matsushita
*tAotemAs *U. Kato *応たん Ō-tan Tweet from JP A-set **Alt: おうたん|gender = Male|eye_color = Brown|status = *Alive|residency = *Tokyo, Japan|occupation = *Light Novel Author |acquaintances = *Iris Sagan (friend) *Mizuki Okiura (friend) *Amame Doi (friend) |likes = *Iris Sagan|appears_in = *''AI: The Somnium Files'' *Lemniscate (channel) **Tesa Visits Maid Cafe Sunfish Pocket! **Tesa's Matsushita Diner Review! Omelet Rice Edition! **AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES Let's Play! Detective Tesa! (in video game) **That Time I Got Forced To Do Impressions by an Egyptian God (mentioned; alluded drawing) **Tesa's Spirited Away Adventure: Picture Book Edition! (chibi drawing) **Tesa Answers Over 30 Questions at Super Speed! (mentioned) **"Invincible Rainbow Arrow" Dance feat. Mizuki, Ota, and...White Horse Woman?! (video) **You Won't Believe the Friend I Just Made! (mentioned)|japanese_va = Natsumi Fujiwara|english_va = Zach Aguilar|interests = *Iris Sagan *Anime *Video games *Doujins *Kamen Rider|age = 24 years old|family = *Mayumi Matsushita (mother) *Takero Matsushita (father)|kanji = 真津下 応太 Alt: まつした おうた|birthday = *June 8th, 1995|deathday = |japanese = 真津下 応太|talent = *Making omelet rice|affiliation = *Matsushita Diner}} "I have to find her. She's more important than any of you understand. But you'll see! You'll hear her music, just like I did! Then you'll see!" —Ota Matsushita, on To-Witter Ota Matsushita (真津下 応太, Matsushita Outa), known online as Mato and tAotemAs, is a main character in ''AI: The Somnium Files''. On To-Witter, his account is Mato @Ota_Matsushita, and on Discord, his account is @tAotemAs#3395. Ota is a 24-year-old NEET, an enthusiastic follower of A-set, and an aspiring light novel author. He often comes across as cowardly and antisocial. He has an unrequited crush on Iris. In AI: The Somnium Files, he was a primary person of interest during the New Cyclops Serial Killings, marked as a witness, suspect, and even victim depending on the branching story. Design Ota is 24 years old. He has brown hair, which is smooth bangs on the front but spiky from the back, with the majority of his hair covered by his red cap, and his eyes are a pale brown. He wears a long-sleeved light-blue hooded sweater with the word GEEK on the front. Over this, he wears a grey zippered coat with a white star inscribed in a red and blue circle below each shoulder. He wears a red cap with goggles strapped above the bill. He carries a black backpack and wears a Rider Belt based around Kamen Rider. Personality TBA Story *tAotemAs *U. Kato *Pongo Ponko (@AuthorOrangutan) *optical protein fiber (@opticilium) *KT (@KetoneGrade) *応たん Ō-tan Tweet from JP A-set **Alt: おうたん|gender = Male|eye_color = Brown|status = Canon: *Alive Alternate routes: *Alive *Deceased |residency = *Shinagawa District, Tokyo, Japan **Matsushita Diner|occupation = *Light Novel Author |acquaintances = *Iris Sagan (friend) *Mizuki Okiura (friend) *Amame Doi (friend) *Hitomi Sagan (former teacher, circa 2004) *Kotaro Uchikoshi (acquaintance) *Kaname Date (acquaintance) *Moma Kumakura (A-set co-fan) |likes = *Iris Sagan|appears_in = *''AI: The Somnium Files'' *Lemniscate (channel) **Tesa Visits Maid Cafe Sunfish Pocket! **Tesa's Matsushita Diner Review! Omelet Rice Edition! **AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES Let's Play! Detective Tesa! (in video game) **That Time I Got Forced To Do Impressions by an Egyptian God (mentioned; alluded drawing) **Tesa's Spirited Away Adventure: Picture Book Edition! (chibi drawing) **Tesa Answers Over 30 Questions at Super Speed! (mentioned) **"Invincible Rainbow Arrow" Dance feat. Mizuki, Ota, and...White Horse Woman?! (video) **You Won't Believe the Friend I Just Made! (mentioned)|japanese_va = Natsumi Fujiwara|english_va = Zach Aguilar|interests = *Iris Sagan *Anime *Video games *Doujins *Kamen Rider|age = 24 years old|family = *Mayumi Matsushita (mother) *Takero Matsushita (father)|kanji = 真津下 応太 Alt: まつした おうた|birthday = June 8th, 1995|deathday = Alternate Routes: November, 2019|japanese = 真津下 応太|talent = *Making omelet rice|affiliation = *Matsushita Diner *Sunfish Pocket (Gold Rank Sea King) *Member of Iris Rescue Squad}} Early Life Ota was born to Mayumi Matsushita and Takero Matsushita on June 8th, 1995. He lived at the Matsushita Diner his whole life, and grew up gaining an interest in animated series, video games, and sentai shows. As a child, he developed an interest in collecting Odoroki-man Chocolate stickers. One day, when Ota was nine years old, Mayumi tried to buy some of his favorite chocolate as a gift, but she bought a Momonoki-man chocolate instead. Ota yelled at her for getting the brand wrong. Takero suggested getting her a Mother's Day gift to make it up to her, so they bought her a floral knife with a custom engraving on the handle ("Mom, I love you always") and a floral-pattern apron. Mayumi was moved to tears, and the three took a family photo together. In 2011, the Kabasaki Chemical Plant explosion occurred. Because Bloom Park closed down, the diner lost a large portion of its customers, and was forced to go out of business. However, Ota's parents were determined to support him, so they took out a loan and continued working hard. In 2013, Ota left to college. After his father died a year later, he dropped out and returned home. He told Mayumi he wanted to focus on his career writing light novels, and that he knew a publicist who could help him get started. However, Ota never published anything during his time at home. Befriending Iris, Mizuki, and Amame This section is a stub. Expansion needed. Some time in the past, Ota met Iris Sagan and Mizuki, and as their friendships grew, he began to grow feelings for Iris. Ota and Iris spent a lot of time hanging out together, either shopping or at each other's houses. Once Iris started her net idol career as A-set and her videos on her Lemniscate channel, Ota was one of her biggest supporters. Shoko Nadami's Case On November 1st, 2019, Ota got a call from Mizuki after 8:00 PM. She told him that someone sent her a NILE message calling her to Bloom Park's merry-go-round, and she wanted him to come along since the area was restricted and she was scared to go alone. They arrived around 9:00 PM and discovered Shoko Nadami's body tied to one of the merry-go-round horses. Ota panicked and fled the scene, leaving Mizuki alone. He dropped his phone in a puddle, so he called the police with a nearby payphone. The next day, Iris asked him if he knew anything about Shoko's murder, as it had been reported on the news. He told her he found the body and explained the details of the crime scene to her. While waiting for Iris to finish recording a podcast, Ota met Kaname Date in the Lemniscate Entertainment Offices lobby. Date discovered the To-Witter sub-accounts Ota used to bash A-set while defending her on his main account. When Date threatened to tell others about the sockpuppeting, Ota agreed to talk, and told him about Mizuki contacting him, and later finding the body. He also explained how he met Mizuki, and the proofreading she did for him. Eventually, Iris returned from her recording session, and Ota introduced her to Date. He asked Iris questions about the case, and she explained that Ota told her about finding the body. Before Date left, Iris asked Ota to film a video of her hugging Date and begging him not to leave, then used the video to blackmail him into taking her along to the crime scene. New Cyclops Serial Killer (Branch A) Witnessing "Renju" and "Iris" On Saturday evening, Ota went to Akihabara to buy a new phone. While he was there, he witnessed Iris coming out of Sunfish Pocket around 6:00 PM, along with Saito Sejima in Renju Okiura's body. A few hours later, Ota spotted Renju's car stopped at a traffic light. To his surprise, he saw Iris (who was actually Saito at the time) behind the wheel, and asked what she was doing. Saito made up a lie about running an errand for Renju, and asked Ota to keep it a secret, since an idol driving without a license could damage her career. TBA Runaway from Marble: Ota's Death (Annihilation Branch) TBA Runaway from Matsushita Diner: Rescue of Iris (Branch AA) TBA Interrogation and Somnium TBA Mayumi's Arrest and Investigation (Ota Route) TBA Hospital Rest (Mizuki Route) TBA Disappearance of Renju Okiura (Branch B) A-set's Visitor and Date TBA Operation: Iris Rescue (Iris Route) TBA Operation: Iris and Hitomi Rescue (Resolution Route) TBA Part-Time Employment (Resolution Route) TBA Appearances Gallery Ota Matsushita.jpg|Ota's profile Ota Concept Art.png|Early Concept Art Ota clean fullbody.png|Ota Matsushita in full view Ota face.png|Ota Matsushita as an icon Ota bg.png|Ota Matsushita in a background design Ota and Mizuki investigating.jpg|Ota and Mizuki finding a body Ota and Iris investigate Marble.jpg|Ota and Iris investigating Marble Ota chillin with the gang.jpg|Ota having a talk with Iris and Date Memories of Bear fighting Ota.jpg|Ota fighting against Bloody Polar Bear Aset asks out HQ.jpg|Ota in Tesa Visits Maid Cafe Sunfish Pocket! Trivia Etymology * Ota's online nickname, Mato, could have been made similar to A-set's fan name, Tesa, which is simply "A-set" in reverse. In lieu of this, Mato is likely a reverse of Ota M'atsushita. General * Ota was originally planned to be a completely disproportionate character compared to the rest of the cast in the game (much like certain characters in the ''Danganronpa ''series). While all character models would be made with human-accurate proportions, Ota was planned to be in a completely different style, standing at around waist-height and having an extremely large head. His beta design was a long-standing design that Yūsuke Kozaki had been waiting to use on a project, and decided to try out for Ota. However, the disproportionate plan for Ota was scrapped, as it would be difficult to model and would look too detached from the other characters in the game, and they were not confident it would look good.Spike Chunsoft's Anime Expo 2019 AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES panel ** The team's opinion on the scrapped idea changed once the movie ''Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse ''was released on March 8th, 2019. Seeing the various disproportionate Spider-folk appear next to each other in the movie in a way that looked great made the team realize that the idea was possible. However, by then the game was nearly done, with the Lemniscate video series already airing for over a month.Spike Chunsoft's Anime Expo 2019 AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES panel * In the chapter saikAI, Aiba states that Ota is registered as a "person of interest" in the MPD database. It's unclear what exactly he has done in order to be present in their database to begin with. * Ota's Rider Belt appears to be based around the Kamen Rider transformation belts, specifically the Double Typhoon, worn by Kamen Rider V3 in the ''Kamen Rider ''series. * Ota's laptop has various stickers placed on its cover, a decent number of them being A-set memorabilia.'Mato: "I think I should get more stickers for my laptop. I've already got it mostly covered in @Lemniscate_Aset stuff but...there's always room for more stickers. Thoughts?" (Mar 2nd) These stickers are the same ones to be included in the Special Agent Edition of ''AI: The Somnium Files''.A-set video: "Sneak Peek at AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES LE/Day One Edition!" * According to an interview with Siliconera, Ota is Director Kotaro Uchikoshi's favorite character among the greyed out characters at the bottom of the cover art. Since Assistant Director Akira Okada answered Aiba, a character not included among the greyed-out characters, it was unclear on how specific Uchikoshi's answer was, until the Q&A panel at Anime Expo 2019, where he stated that, if he had to choose, his favorite overall character would be Kaname Date.Spike Chunsoft's Anime Expo 2019 AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES panel ** However, he has stated numerous times that he loves all his characters, so any answer would potentially not be a true answer. * In a fan-made Character Poll for ''AI: The Somnium Files'' held on Twitter, Ota Matsushita came in 14th place, tying with Saito Sejima. * He appears to be a fan of: ** The Danganronpa series'Mato (in reply to @bribriHEARTS)': "tokomaru, saimatsu, chimondo" (Feb 22nd) ** Re:Zero — Starting Life in Another World''Mato's list of accounts he follows, which contain official accounts of many anime series and other pop-culture media. ** ''Kill la Kill ** The Sword Art Online franchise, particularly Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online ** Oreimo ** Eromanga Sensei ** The DARLING in the FRANXX ** SSSS.GRIDMAN ** The Kamen Rider series ** Virtual YouTuber "Kizuna Ai" ** Virtual YouTuber "Nekomiya Hinata" ** Virtual YouTuber "Kaguya Luna" ** Virtual YouTuber "Mirai Akari" ** TRIGGER anime studio ** J-LIST online store ** FAKKU Hentai Publisher ** Vocaloid "Hatsune Miku" ** Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san ''(TL: ''Please Don't Bully Me, Nagataro)Mato: images included (Feb 26th) ** The Pokemon franchise'Mato (in reply to A-set)': "I like water types! And anything that looks like a ninja or a robot, lol" (Feb 27th) ** My Neighbor TotoroMato (in reply to A-set): included (Mar 1st) ** The SimpsonsMato: "Everyone coming up with conspiracy theories like" included with tweet (Mar 1st) ** My Hero AcademiaMato: "Plus, you know I'd never let anything happen to my muse! My inspiration! My raison d'être! I'll protect her!" included with tweet (Mar 2nd) ** NieR:AutomataMato: "Ugh, just woke up. Probably shouldn't have stayed up all night. But hey, if you want to Become as Gods..."(Mar 9th) as Gods" is a notable quote from the video game [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nier:_Automata NieR:Automata] ** King of the HillMato (in reply to @maxigregrze): included in tweet (Mar 11th) ** Fate/Grand OrderMato: "Those 'who would win in a fight' questions are boring. We get it already. The real important question is: Pirates vs. Ninjas vs. Knights vs. Samurai: who is SEXIER?" (Mar 12th), followed by Mato: "I mean I'm kinda leaning toward pirates because" included with tweet (Mar 12th) ** Cowboy BebopMato: "COWGIRLS I FORGOT ABOUT COWGIRLS" included with tweet (Mar 12th) ** Kantai CollectionMato: "You know what? What if we introduce planes and boats into the picture? Now who wins? lol" included in tweet (Mar 12th) ** Girls' Frontier ** Azur Lane ** TBA References Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:AI: The Somnium Files Characters